Abrams On 'Star Trek XI' Performances

For J.J. Abrams, seeing a cut of Star Trek XI reveals the true artistry of the performances of Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine.

As reported by Hollywoodoutbreak.com, Abrams is very satisfied with what he saw when watching the work that had been assembled thus far. "Right now we have a cut of the movie that has twelve percent of the visual effects near done but the movie is working and that's the thing that is exciting to me. What's amazing about the movie is that the people are awesome and the characters are alive and they're great and you love them. And Alex [Kurtzman] and Bob [Orci] wrote an amazing script and our amazing actors made it more amazing."

The performances of both Quinto and Pine shone through when Abrams could see them in their entirety. "It was really like...the fun of watching Zachary Quinto take a role like Spock which is an incredibly, deceptively, complicated part. When you see the whole performance there are things that he was doing that I didn't even see or realize or that he was doing when we were making the movie. To have Chris Pine come in and embrace this role of Kirk in a way that is so complete and emotional and funny and cocky and yet vulnerable, it's a wonderful thing, so that to me is where the best news is, that without the stuff that you think 'you need that to tell the story,' it works. It is really a testament to the people in the movie and the script."

Abrams revealed as reported by Comingsoon.net that Jennifer Morrison was indeed playing Kirk's mother, adding that "She is so great. She's awesome!" and that Winona Ryder, who is playing the mother of Spock, is "in a great sequence and is so good. I love her."

Working with Leonard Nimoy was "...a dream experience," according to Abrams. "He is everything you want him to be. He's funny and incredibly thoughtful and was surprisingly open and receptive to direction. He's just got an amazing wife and family and working with him was literally...Like the other day we were doing some ADR and he was there and because we weren't shooting anymore I was standing there and I just looked at him while he was doing his thing. I wanted to burn it into my head. It was so great to get to work with that guy. He's just an amazing man and is terrific in the movie."

Abrams went on to add that Nimoy was "a major presence in any scene he's in. He's terrific."

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